Dharmesh Shah on insights from and around MIT

At Business of Software 2008, Dharmesh Shah of the OnStartups blog (you should subscribe to his RSS feed) gave a great talk about start-ups. Dharmesh has a great presentation style - a perfect demonstration of how you don't need soaring rhetoric to create a powerful and engaging talk. When Dharmesh speaks, it's low-key and conversational, as if addressing a small group of friends. It almost seems ad-libbed, but that might just be because he forgot his slides.

Dharmesh has started a few start-ups. Originally, he bootstrapped, but for his most recent start-up he crossed to the dark side and got VC funding. Dharmesh also spent a year at MIT. All this means he has a uniquely informed perspective on the business of software. Well worth listening to.

Dharmesh talks about, among other things:

• Your idea can suck. Just get started.
• Not having cash breeds good behaviour.
• The 12 flaming hoops of venture capital.
• Write a blog, not a business plan.

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